Transcript Sample Slides - Woodland Park Zoo

Forests
Tropical & Temperate
What is a Forest?
• Large, continuous stands of trees
• Grows in moist areas with at least one warm
season
Two types of forests
Tropical
Temperate
Forest Ecosystem Services
• Absorb and store carbon from the atmosphere
• Maintain the balance of oxygen in the air
• Regulate stream flow by absorbing and slowly
releasing precipitation
• Provide habitat for animals
• Create soil
• Tree roots prevent soil erosion and
compaction
• Maintain moisture levels in atmosphere
through transpiration
Types of Tropical Forests
• Tropical Moist
Forests
• Tropical Dry Forests
• Tropical Cloud
Forests
• Tropical Rain
Forests
Tropical Forests of the World
Tropical Forests are in 
ARCTIC CIRCLE
TROPIC OF CANCER
EQUATOR
TROPIC OF CAPRICORN
Tropical Rain Forests
• Found between Tropics of
Cancer and Capricorn
(23.5 N. and S. of equator)
• 80+ inches of rain annually
324 inches in the Choco of
Columbia
• Humidity - 80-90%
• Fairly constant
temperatures
70 - 85 F
• Existed in more or less
present form for 70-100
million years
Layers of the Tropical Rainforests: Forest Floor
• Soil
• Decaying matter
• Seedlings
• Shade-tolerant
plants
• Very dark, less than
1% of light reaches
floor
Forest Floor Animals
jaguar
Photo by Mike Teller
sunbittern
bushmaster
Layers of the Tropical Rainforests: Understory
• Drier and lighter than
floor
• Small and young trees
tree fern
• Shade tolerant plants
• Conical shape trees and
plants with larger leaves
• Provides shelter for
animal species
katydid
Layers of the Tropical Rainforests: Understory
Epiphytes
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epiphytes
bromeliads
orchids
ferns
lianas
(woody
vines)
connect the
lower levels
to the
upper
bromeliad
levels
Layers of the Tropical Rainforests: Canopy
• Open canopy
– greater variation in
temperature and
weather
• Most diverse level of the
forest
• Majority of plant and
animal species
• Trees up to 100-150 feet
tall
• Large flat crown up to an
acre across
• Lianas make up 40% of
canopy
Canopy Animals
toucan
Photo by Dale Unruh
sloth
Photo by Dana Payne
howler monkey
Photo by Dana Payne
Layers of the Tropical Rainforests: Emergent Layer
• Trees reach 200 - 250
feet
• Smaller crowns than
canopy
• Vulnerable to the
elements
• Many birds and
primates find food in
emergent and protection
in canopy
Biodiversity
• Tropical rain forests make
up approx. 6% of the
earth’s land
• Estimated that tropical rain
forests host half the
world’s species of living
things
• Approximately 25% of
drugs prescribed in the US
are derived from plants
Common is rare and
rare is common
Major Threats to Tropical Forests
•
Commercial farming
•
“Slash-and-burn”
agriculture
•
International logging
•
Cattle pastures
•
Road-building and dambuilding
Temperate Forest
Temperate forests are:
• forests that grow in
regions of moderate
(temperate) climates
(between 2327 and
6633 north or south
latitudes)
• weather changes
between distinct
warm/hot summer
season and cool/cold
winter season
Temperate Forests of the World
Temperate Forests are in 
ARCTIC CIRCLE
TROPIC OF CANCER
EQUATOR
TROPIC OF CAPRICORN
Types of Temperate Forests
Temperate deciduous forests
• mainly broadleaf, deciduous trees
• found in eastern US, the UK, central Europe, eastern Asia
Boreal forests (taiga)
• mainly needle-leaved, coniferous (cone-bearing) trees
• small trees due to short growing season
Temperate evergreen forests
• same types of trees as boreal, but milder conditions
Temperate rain forests
• high precipitation, mild winters
• found in Pacific NW, Australia, New Zealand, Chile and
parts of Japan, U.K. and Norway
Temperate Forests in Washington
• Climate favors coniferous, evergreen trees over broadleaf,
deciduous trees
– 90% of precipitation falls between September and May
(often summer drought)
• Two types of temperate forests found in Washington state:
– Temperate Evergreen Forest
o 15 - 30 inches annually east of the Cascades
o 35 - 120 inches annually west of the Cascades
– Temperate Rain Forest
o averages up to 140 inches annually in Olympic
Peninsula
Temperate Forests in Washington
Temperate Forest Characteristics
• Dominated by evergreen, coniferous trees
• Layers of overlapping vegetation (forest floor,
understory, canopy)
• Downed logs and old stumps that act as nurse logs
and mother snags
• Thick layer of organic debris on ground
• Cool, wet, acidic soils
• Presence of epiphytes
Temperate Forest Vegetation
Forest floor
• ferns, false lily of the valley, queen’s cup, twinflower
redwood sorrel, trillium
• mosses, lichens, liverworts, club mosses
Understory
• small trees: Pacific yew, Pacific dogwood, vine maple
• shrubs: huckleberries, red elderberry, devil’s club, salal
• epiphytes: as in canopy
Canopy
• conifers: Douglas fir, western hemlock, western red cedar,
true firs
• broadleaf: big leaf maple, black cottonwood, red alder
• epiphytes: mosses, lichens, liverworts, ferns and club
mosses
Temperate Forest Vegetation
fern & sphagnum
moss
sorrel
calypso orchid
trillium
salal flowers
Temperate Rain Forest: Forests of the Olympic Peninsula
Defining characteristics:
• trees that are longlived and of great
size
• abundance of
epiphytes
• fog drip, networks
of flowing water
Temperate Forest Vegetation: Eastern Washington
• Far drier than western
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Washington forests
Lowest elevations bordering the
steppe, drought-tolerant
ponderosa pine dominates
Higher elevations, Douglas fir
dominates, mixed with lodge pole
pine, grand fir and western larch
Many shrubs and herbs found on
forest floor and understory also
grow in the steppe
Most of wildlife found in east side
forests are the same species that
inhabit west side forests
Temperate Forest Animals
• INVERTEBRATES
• Canopy: mites, spiders,
springtails, barklice
• Forest Floor: ants,
termites, banana slug,
millipedes, centipedes,
beetles
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AMPHIBIANS
Pacific tree frog
Red-legged frog (W)
Salamanders (W)
• REPTILES
• Garter snakes
• Northern Alligator Lizard
• BIRDS
(species that rely on old
growth forests)
• Winter wren
• Vaux’s swift
• Marbled murrelet (W)
• Pileated woodpecker
• Northern spotted owl
(W) =primarily found in western Washington
Temperate Forest Animals (cont.)
SMALL MAMMALS
• Forest floor: shrews,
mountain beaver,
deer mice, skunks
• Canopy/Understory:
bats, flying squirrel,
red squirrel (E),
Townsend’s
chipmunk (W),
marten, fisher
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LARGE MAMMALS
Rocky Mountain elk (E)
Roosevelt elk (W)
mule deer (E)
black-tailed deer (W)
coyote
bobcat
cougar
black bear
(W) =primarily found in western Washington
(E) =primarily found in eastern Washington
Temperate Forest Animals
striped skunk
black-tailed deer
barred owl
black-tailed deer
raccoon
cougar
cougar
Temperate Forest: Fires
In Washington, fire plays a more
significant role in forests east
of the Cascades crest than in
those of the west side
Natural forest fires can:
• enhance the diversity of forest
floor species by maintaining
openness of forest
• provide food for animals by
encouraging growth of forest
floor plants
• initiate germination of some tree
seedlings, such as lodgepole
pine
Forest Succession
The process of organisms displacing one another in an
ecosystem; occurs in sequence.
A result of the survival strategies of plants:
– live fast, die young (energy expended in dispersal &
fecundity)
OR
– live long and strong (energy used for defense & put into
storage)
• Disturbance = events, natural or human-caused, that cause
changes in an ecosystem
• Climax = final stage of succession which results in a stable
plant community that is in natural equilibrium
Major Threats to Washington’s Temperate Forests
•
Urban sprawl
•
Farming and
agriculture
•
Introduced species
•
Road-building
•
Unsustainable
harvesting
Temperate Forests vs. Tropical Forests
TEMPERATE
TROPICAL
• Slow decomposition
• Rapid decomposition
• One foot leaf litter
• One inch leaf litter
• Seven feet topsoil
• 2-3 inches topsoil
• Temperatures vary widely
• Fairly constant temperatures
• Three layers of vegetation
• Four layers vegetation
• Trees mostly wind
• Trees pollinated by animals
pollinated
• Greater biodiversity
Forest Connections
Forest Research
Methods of studying forest canopies:
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platforms
walkways
towers
hot air balloons
climbing ropes
canopy cranes
Eleven canopy cranes around the world:
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Japan
Venezuela
Switzerland
Germany (3)
Panama (2)
Malaysia
Australia
Washington state
Wind River Canopy Crane
Gifford Pinchot National Forest
Forest Conservation
What organizations are doing:
• forest certification
• cooperative conservation projects that include protection
and management, research, education and community
involvement
What you can do:
• look for certified forest products
• look for shade-grown coffee
• help students fall in love with forests
• get involved in local habitat projects
• reduce, reuse and recycle paper and other forest products
Woodland Park Zoo 2011
All photos by
K. Remine/M. White/J. Mears unless otherwise
noted.
All WPZ photos property of Woodland Park Zoo. All
rights reserved.
www.zoo.org